The Curious One

Bonus: The Value of Trees (And the Meaning of Everything)

That's a nice tree, I guess. So is the one next to it. This tag says it's a red oak tree. Is the one next to it the same? That one doesn't have a tag on it. I wonder how they choose which ones to tag. Do they mark all the trees with little identification cards or just some of them?

Why am I thinking about trees again?

"Thank you."

He turned around quickly to see a girl behind him. She was fairly tall and had long curly hair in a ponytail. The deep red of her hair contrasted nicely with her tanned skinned. He wondered what her heritage was that led to such genetics. Or maybe her hair wasn't usually that color. Whatever, it doesn't matter. She was balancing a cup of water atop a box of food, so she was coming from the same place as him. Did he see inside the Student Union? Yeah, she smiled at him and he looked away. Real nice. He felt bad about it now, seeing her again so soon after. He should have guessed it, with being such a small campus you can't really blend into the crowd. didn't mean to ignore her.

Wait, what did she say again? "Sorry, what?"

"I caught you in a pensive mood, I see."

"I guess. Why did you thank me earlier?"

She just smiled at him again. It was the middle of a Wednesday, why was she smiling so much? "Because you stopped to look at the tree."

"Okay . . ."

The girl walked over to the tree and rested a hand upon it. He looked around to see if anyone was nearby to witness the weirdness. Only a few people were around, and they ignored whatever was going on.

"This tree is representative of how people are so absorbed within their life that they cannot actually live in the present. They are so burdened by superficial details and concerns that they never take the time to truly notice their surroundings and the beauty of nature." She laughed lightly to herself and apologized with explanatory words. "English major."

"Yeah, that's messed up, I guess." He just went along with her. Maybe then she would pick up her food from the ground and just leave.

"It's human nature. Even I am at fault, worrying too much about grades and not enough about everything else in life. My friend Ella is the same way. Sometimes I think was meant to be her sister. Her actual sibling is kind of a wild child. Totally unlike my friend Nick, but boy, do I have a story about the two of them." She laughed to herself again. Why was she telling him all this again?

Should I tell her I have to go to class or something? Wait, I don't even have my backpack, that would be stupid. Or am I being superficial for not stopping and listening to her? And did I seriously just use the word superficial?

"You have somewhere to be, either that or you just don't want to talk to me." She didn't say it spitefully, just understandingly.

"Uh, yeah. Well, thanks for the talk."

"Have a good day . . ." It took him a moment to realize she was requesting his name. He awkwardly shifted in place.

"Oh, um, I'm Jake."

"I'm Luna, nice to meet you." She held out her hand, and he had to walked forward to shake it. He never knew how to shake hands with someone, but at least she had a decent grip. "I hope you have a great rest of your day, Jake."

"Thanks, you too, uh . . . Luna." He gave her a small wave, and upon a whim directed a wave at the tree as well. She laughed lightly at this as she bent down to pick up her lunch. Only after he left did he realize something incredible. Luna had light bags under her eyes, most likely from a lack of sleep, and she was eating lunch near 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Alone, and probably while doing work. Yet, she found the time to appreciate something greater than herself.

That's why I'm thinking about trees. Thank you, Luna. It was almost like from the value of trees, someone could come to their own meaning of everything. Now he was sounding like an English major.

Author's Note: Yes, this indeed is based on "The Curious Ones" characters! I just really really like those guys and gals. I didn't intend for that, I've had the idea for this for a while, actually from a tree with an identification marker on the way from my Student Union back to the dorm. I have English major friends, but I actually was thinking of the lovely scarf-girl from Doctor Who. Then I realize how Luna was an English major and how this seemed like something she would do. So there we go! I also thought this would be a cute friendship story. She and Jake will never have anything romantic, just a fun little friendship. Anyway, thanks for reading!